Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday rejected the recently enacted Islamabad Capital Territory Child Marriage Restraint Act 2025, announcing nationwide protest rallies aimed at “creating awareness” among the public.
The bill, which sought to protect the rights of children and eventually eradicate marriages of children under the age of 18 in Islamabad, was signed into law by the president on May 27 after sailing through both houses of parliament.
Addressing a press conference in Peshawar on Sunday, the JUI-F chief rejected the law, alleging that it “made fornication easier while making legitimate marriages difficult”.
“Pakistan is a strange country — during the time of General Musharraf, a constitutional amendment was passed in the name of women’s rights that decriminalised fornication,” Fazl said.
“It took it out of the realm of sin.
